Strange problem

[ChrilleT 2]

Today a strange thing happend. 

I got one big city (biggest region size) with 500000 people in it. It is a combined residental/commercial city. Next to it on the right side I have 2 industrial regions (medium size). There was a big need for more industry and since the 2 regions I had was packed i choose to start 2 new industrial regions. I placed them over and under the existing industrial regions. 

These two new regions is not directly connected to the residential city (except the corners touching eachother). So you have to drive a small bit through one region to get to the new ones but I have done this before so wasen´t expecting any problems. Once I started the new regions about 11000 and 7000 (total 18000 )jobs got added until the demand was down again. 

Now I returned to the residential region and started it, expecting it to grow a little with 18000 new jobs pretty closeby (especially since no other residential region is connected to these industrial jobs). What happend was that the population started dropping and went down 70000 to around 430000. When I started to search for a reason to why this happend I found that the commute times had hit the sky. I can understand that the way to these new jobs are longer but all the jobs when the region was at 500k is still there so can´t understand why the people move out due to commute times (as it seems).

Sorry for no picture bit this is how the city is planned so far (with the 4 R as one region, R = residential and commercial region, I = industrial region)
    I
RRI
RRI
    I


So it can actually be harmful to add more jobs if they are not very close? Have any other experienced these problems? 
Seems it calculates commute times pretty odd.

Have SC4 Deluxe with NAM installed with (10* commute 10* ... dont remeber all settings).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The problem is that the Sims have to cross two city boundaries to get to work.  There is a commute time penalty at each one.

To make this work the way you expect you should add the industrial cities above and below your r/c city if possible.  Failing that, use fast commuting services.  Can you create water in the corners where these are?  If so, put a lake between the cities and connect with ferries.  Ferries do not seem to have the same penalty.

You can return to god mode terraforming tools with ALT+CTL+Shift+[click on the god mode icon]

[ChrilleT 2]

"The problem is that the Sims have to cross two city boundaries to get to work"

To the new works yes, but there should still be enough work for 500000 without those 2 new regions thats what confuses me. It dropped 70k in population when 18000 works were added, and even with longer way to those jobs theres still plenty of all kinds of jobs with demand up closer. Its not like i removed industrial or commercial closer to the city.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Notwithstanding the fact that there are jobs in the old cities, the Sims will try to work where they want.  This is the simulator being eclectic.  If you didn't want Sims to work there, why build them?  They'll try to get there because it is there.

[tungston 19]

Maybe if you give it a year or two, things will get better. Sometimes the game does get confused when confronted with change. I am that way, I hate change.

[ChrilleT 2]

I have no problem with them working there, built them because the demand was up and the existing started regions had no more place to build on. So thought it would have a posetive effect even if it was longer to those new jobs. The directly connected regions left I had planned to built either commercial or residential citys but might have to rethink that now.

[nerdly_dood 26]

i have no idea.

some ppl have irrrational fears, i have irrational traffic--i dont know where it comes from, and i dont know where it goes, only that it JAMS y roads.